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PAGE 4A THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2008 Editor: Angela Gary Phone: 706-367-2490 E-mail: AngieEditor@aol.com Website: www.banksnewsTODAY.com Opinion “Where the press is free and every tnan able to read, all is safe.” — Thomas Jefferson Counting blessings Sometimes it is necessary to slow down, clear my head, take a realistic look at my life and then count my blessings. Good health. That is huge. Family. Another big one. Friends. Not to be taken for granted. Good food. Good sleep. Good books. Good music. Those rank high on my list. The older I get, the simpler the pleasures. Quiet time alone. Fun time with my daughter, as well as quiet times together. Talking and laughing with my husband. Learning more about my parents as people, not only as my parents. A really good laugh, the kind that makes your sides hurt, the kind where you say, “Oh, I really needed that.' Co-workers who are also friends. My daughter’s laugh, that honest-to-goodness belly laugh. Fall leaves and blue skies. A heating pad for my feet when the weather turns cold. Seeing a good movie at the movie theater. Going out to dinner with my husband, just the two of us. Well, the list goes on and on. I think we can all learn a Thanksgiving lesson from children. I enjoyed some artwork this week by Wyatt Poe, age 6, who drew pictures of things for which he is thankful, but also wrote out his Thanksgiving thoughts. Like most children, Wyatt cuts straight to the heart of the things that are important in his life. His parents, his brother, his faith, his grandparents, his pets. Some things children say may seem a little funny - they are thankful for chicken nuggets and french fries, for example. They are thankful for pizza. They are thankful for toys. But, in reality, how great is that? To still be so immersed in the small pleasures of the day — which aren’t so small when you are small — that you can still get excited over what “bigger” people may take for granted. It’s a good view of life. Happy Thanksgiving. Jana Adams Mitcham is features editor of The Jackson Herald, a sister publication of The Banks County News. Contact Us Anyone with general story ideas, complaints or com ments about the news department is asked to call editor Angela Gary at 706-367-2490. She can also be reached by e-mail at AngieEditor@ aol.com. The Banks County News Founded 1968 The official legal organ of Banks County, Ga. Mike Buffington Co-Publisher Scott Buffington Co-Publisher Angela Gary Editor Justin Poole Sports Editor Sharon Hogan Reporter Anelia Chambers Receptionist Suzanne Reed Church News Phones (all 706 area code): Angela Gary Phone 367-2490 Angela Gary Fax 367-9355 Homer Office Phone 677-3491 Homer Office Fax 677-3263 (SCED 547160) Published weekly by MainStreet Newspapers, Inc., P.O. Box 908, Jefferson, Ga. 30549 Subscription in county $19.75 Subscription in state $38.85 Subscription out of state $44.20 Military with APO address $42.20 Senior citizens get a $2 discount Periodicals postage paid at Homer, Ga. 30547 Postmaster, send address changes to: Subscriptions, The Banks County News, P.O. Box 920, Homer, Ga. 30547 Member: Georgia Press Association Georgia Sports Writers Association National Newspaper Association L et us come before * his presence with thanksgiving... Psalms 95:2 'PoOElff, ~u>oi <9 Don't mess with the teachers If you want to accomplish anything in Georgia politics, you had better remem ber one thing: don’t mess around with public school teach ers, particularly with their pensions. Teachers are one of the state’s best edu cated groups of work ers and they are also among the most politically active. The politician who does anything that makes teachers mad will surely pay the price at the ballot box. Roy Barnes could attest to that. Eight years ago, when he was Georgia’s gov ernor, he persuaded the Legislature to adopt an education reform measure that he promptly signed into law. Barnes wanted to improve student per formance by reducing class sizes and pro viding more resources for local school systems. Teachers were fine with that, but they were very unhappy over a provision that eliminated their right to a fair dismiss al healing. To add insult to injury, Barnes commented on several occasions that one of the problems with public schools was that “it’s too difficult to get rid of bad teachers.” That was the match that touched off the explosion. Angered at the lack of respect shown by the governor, educators decided to teach Barnes a lesson when he ran for reelection in 2002. Teachers around the state denounced the incumbent and supported his Republican challenger, Sonny Perdue. With the teachers’ help, Perdue defeated Barnes in one of the most astounding political upsets in the state’s histoiy. The lesson that Barnes learned at such a high price does not seem to have hit home with Perdue, however. Two months ago, Perdue tried to reduce pension benefits for teachers by proposing that the Teacher Retirement System (TRS) eliminate their annual three percent increase in cost-of- living adjustments to pension benefits. This increase has been granted auto matically to retired teachers for nearly 40 years, but Perdue suggested giving the TRS board of trustees the flexibility to grant smaller increases because he said he wanted to protect the fiscal soundness of the $41 billion pension fund. Just as they did six years ago with Barnes, teachers went ballistic over the Perdue proposal. They flooded the gover nor’s office and the office of the TRS board with an estimated 20,000 letters and emails protesting the policy change. Teachers felt, not unreasonably, that they and their local school boards have been making hefty contributions to the pension fund for decades to make sure there would be enough money to pay for those of cost- of-living adjustments. If the governor would not listen to them, they made sure that the legislative leadership got the mes sage about the perils of reducing pension benefits. That message was received. By the time the TRS board met last week to vote on Perdue’s pension proposal, teachers had such key officials as Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, House Speaker Pro Tem Mark Burkhalter and House Minority Leader DuBose Porter on their side. Perdue may have been tone-deaf to the feel ings of teachers, but lawmakers were not going to make that same mistake. Realizing too late that he did not have the votes on the TRS board, Perdue attempted to have the proposal withdrawn. The board refused to allow the withdrawal and every member voted to reject Perdue’s proposal - even though more than half of the trust ees are appointed by the governor. Perdue’s political mistake probably won’t cost him the way it cost Barnes in 2002. He can’t run for governor again because he’s term-limited and he can’t step up to run for higher office because Johnny Isakson isn’t going to vacate his U.S. Senate seat in 2010. One politician who does plan to run for something in 2010, Cagle, made sure that the teachers knew who had been in their corner. He issued a statement soon after the TRS vote saying he supported the decision and followed that up with a letter to each teach er who had written to him about the issue. “I know many of you have waited weeks for this decision, and I want you to know that I reached out to the TRS Board to express my concern in taking the proposed actions to change this rule,” Cagle wrote. “I am happy that they listened to my advice, as well as the voice of many teach ers across our state.” Any politicians who want to keep getting elected to public office will make very sure that they listen to the voice of Georgia’s teachers. The events of last week made that crystal clear. Tom Crawford is the editor of Capitol Impact’s Georgia Report, an Internet news service at www.gareport.com that covers government and politics in Georgia. He can be reached at tcrawforcl@ capitolim- tom crawford Thanks for help with fundraiser Dear Editor: The Homer Fire Department and Ladies Auxiliary would like to thank all the ladies and gentlemen who brought cakes for the cake walk and those listed below for their support for the David Dunson fundraiser on Nov. 13. Anthony Seabolt, Captain D’s, G-Seven Farms, Hair Express, Ingles, Joe and Patti Thomas, Lamar and Lynn Ayers, Quality Foods, Sandra Garrison, The Express Press and Wal-Mart. We would also like to thank the com munity for coming out and supporting the Dunson family. Sincerely, Homer Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary Letters to the editor policy given The Banks County News has established a policy on printing Letters to the editor. Letters to the editor must also be signed with the address and phone number of the person who wrote them. The address and phone number will be for our verification purposes only and will not be printed unless the writer requests it. Mail to, The Banks County News, P.O. Box 920, Homer, Ga. 30547. E-mailed letters will be accepted, but we must have a contact phone number and address. Letters that are libelous will not be printed. It's never too early to think about 2012 Sarah Palin. Newt Gingrich. Haley Barbour. Mike Huckabee. Bobby Jindal. John Thune. Tim Pawlenty. Charlie Crist. What do the people in this list of names have in common? Each one has already been mentioned as a potential can didate for the Republican nomination for president in 2012. While some of you have just dropped your newspaper on the tloor atter reading that statement, believe it or not presidential politics, and more specifically presidential campaigning, never really ends. As soon as Barack Obama was declared the winner at 11 p.m. Eastern time on Nov. 4, poten tial Republican candidates began jockeying for position for the next go around in 2012. While 2012 certainly seems a long way in the future, it’s really not when you consider how much time goes into a serious run at the White House. Today, even statewide candi dates who mount serious efforts at office declare up to two years in advance. Already in our state, candidates are on the trail for the 2010 elections where we have a full slate of statewide offices up for grabs. On the national front, Iowa is already receiving attention as news stories have described how interested candidates are already making visits to the state or in the process of doing so soon. Yes, it seems early and our newly elected president has yet to be sworn it, but this is how it works in politics. Some of the names on the list at the beginning of this column you no doubt have heard of. Some you have not although you may be hearing more about them in com ing months and years. Republicans are still licking their wounds from taking a rather one-sided defeat in the presidential race this year and are still debating just how Obama and the Democrats got the best of them nationally. (Even in Georgia, one of the reddest of the red states, McCain only defeated Obama by a 52-47 percent margin. Incumbent Senator Saxby Chambliss is fight ing for his political life in a run off with Jim Martin, something many didn’t think possible at one time.) No doubt those who are road weary of the nightly talk of presidential politics will scoff at the notion that the 2012 race is already underway I remember several years ago CSPAN (one of my favorite networks) was criti cized for beginning their “Road to the White House” Series only a few months after the previous election had ended. Personally, I was all for it. Political junkies like myself can never get enough. So splash some water on your face, drink some coffee and get ready to go again because the countdown to the 2012 presiden tial election is on. I realize not many people are paying attention right now, but the die-hards like myself will be glad to keep track and help keep you in the loop until you decide to start paying closer attention. For me, it’s a big part of what makes this country great. Chris Bridges is an editor with Mainstreet Newspapers. He can be reached at chris @mainstreet- news.com.